EA's Origin DD service (not that Origin)

TheGameguru wrote:

Actually being a douche should probably get you banned from everything. Imagine how much better the world would be!?

:-P

I agree, but only if I get to decide who the douches are.

That's the problem, who decides what's abusive.

How many games have functionality to report an abusive player, what if the company locked out out of your account "just to be safe" when someone clicks that button. We all know how mature video gamers people are and that they would never click it because
-You beat them in a match,
-badmouthed them slightly,
-were on the losing team and 'lost the game for them',
-used a weapon loadout that countered what they were equipped with at that time,
-looked at them funny,
-or even someone you know in real life doing it 'for a laugh' or for any number of reasons.

Now, I can ask "are you sure no company would ever do that?", and being on an internet forum it's easy to reply "yes, it would never happen" because it's just words on a screen, but with these accounts everyone is placing their bet with games of real worth. I suspect this issue won't go away, and lots of people will say it's not a problem, until the day it does happen to them, and then it's the worst thing ever.

I think that the main thing with this is that the rules and conditions are not spelled out anywhere (as far as i can see) and a lack of ability to respond to individual cases (just like with Steam). Their statements on the issues encountered, though old now, are also contrary to what is being experienced:

Mainly that each service, game and associated forum section are independent. Clearly, however, they are not. Not to mention that when this came up last year, they said it was a bug and that it would be fixed. Clearly it was not and was not.

EA have failed here on multiple levels.

I vote on a new cabinet position to decide... Chief Douche Czar or something...

Scratched wrote:

That's the problem, who decides what's abusive.

How many games have functionality to report an abusive player, what if the company locked out out of your account "just to be safe" when someone clicks that button.

I could have been on the receiving end of this one once. I was playing with some pubbies on XBox Live - this was probably 3 or 4 years ago - and one of the people on my team insisted on calling everyone homophobic or racist slurs. I warned him to knock it off, or he would be reported. When he ignored that, I followed through, and apparently he got a notification that he was reported, because he and his 2 friends who were playing together decided to report me right back.

I don't know that the guy ever got booted from Live, he probably didn't, and kept making the gaming world worse for everyone in it. I don't know if there is an easy solution to people being scum, but I know there has to be a solution to it, and linking as much player information as possible so that you can cut down on the repeat offenders seems like as good a starting point as any.

I do understand the problem of limiting single-player based on your on-line behavior, and I feel that that is crossing a line. However, that just comes down to the idea of buying a license, instead of a product - so maybe we can have the internet jerks be the first to fall in that eventual battle. Talk about a perfect solution - jerks lose rights to their games and hopefully stop being jerks, and software starts to get seen as something you buy, not something you get permission to use.

I know it's a "what if" situation, and I think it's a little far fetched myself, but I know stranger things have happened. I don't discount any company turning around and cutting you loose, because when games are selling hundreds of thousands or millions, you're quite replaceable, EA won't miss a few dozen 'mistakes', that's a rounding error to them.

It's not just about being a jerk either though. A guy was banned for being helpful.

gregrampage wrote:

It's not just about being a jerk either though. A guy was banned for being helpful.

No, no, no. You've got it all wrong! Posting a link to a website or helpguide is advertising... and everyone knows that advertising is commerical. So it's only okay if we do it. IF you poor suckers do it then we're going to ban your ass and revoke all your licenses.... forever!

/EA

TheGameguru wrote:

I would bet that EA is undercutting Valve right now on DD fees... I'm very glad that this is happening.. its exceedingly bad for the consumer to have one "primary" player.

100% agree.

The whole "3rd parties on origin" aspect is going to take a while to shake out, I think steam has had some games with people testing the water and not coming back. The test is whether they stay and more come to the service, which takes a while. I think it would be funny though if the third parties started adding their back catalogue going further back than EA's.

If I were a 3rd party, I'd be reluctant to subject my customers to Origin at the moment. It's one thing for EA to ban you from EA's own games...

I'm sure they've got some term in the legalese to cover that, but it does seem that it's never EA's content that they produce that's ever the problem anyone has with them, it's the business decisions around what they produce that put people off. The same for many other publishers.

I can think of many nerd-rages about DRM, DLC, and etc in recent years, but it's a rare thing to see people outraged about a bad game.

Scratched wrote:

I can think of many nerd-rages about DRM, DLC, and etc in recent years, but it's a rare thing to see people outraged about a bad game.

Hell, even Limbo of the Lost had people trying to get copies just to experience how bad it was for themselves!

Scratched wrote:

I can think of many nerd-rages about DRM, DLC, and etc in recent years, but it's a rare thing to see people outraged about a bad game.

Elemental, Sword of the Stars II, FFXIII, FFXIV(yes, this was released)...

Yeah, not so rare, and this was just in the last year.

Anyone else getting this error upon starting Origin today? It wants to update the client, but I get this:

IMAGE(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g81/ziffel66/forum/originerror.jpg)

Two goofy things about this ...

1) I have UAC completely disabled.

2) it offers no UAC prompt after I click OK.

It will just hang on the update at 0%.

I've had pretty much constant problems with Origin's client whenever it has attempted to update itself.

What the-?

Let me quote the article for you all:

Since blocking new-game purchasers from using online content seems like an unproductive move (even) for EA, we asked an EA Advisor for clarification on its Online Pass expiration policy.

EA's Online Pass can indeed expire for some new games, blocking buyers out of online content until they download a new pass or attain one from EA directly, EA confirmed to Joystiq. As a rule, no Online Pass should expire, but a few titles will have a time limit on their use, even for new purchases, EA said. Dragon Age 2, for example, has an Online Pass that expires on March 31, 2012, according to EA's EULA description. Re-downloading or getting a new Pass is free, EA said.

If there's more proof needed that the games industry is just out to f*ck with their customers and not caring about pirates at all then i don't know what it would take...

Regardless of whether the step is free or not, it shouldn't have to even exist. What's next? Phoning or contacting EA to get their permission whenever you buy a game so you can install it? Oh, you only have to do it each time you install...

If it was a PC only thing, I'd say it shows they only care about piracy in the period after release where the codes are valid. Seeing as those codes are also for consoles, it's also aimed at second hand sales, but seemingly again they only care about the initial period after launch. It comes across the same as shutting down their multiplayer servers, which EA is known for doing most commonly, EA don't care about ongoing lifespan of a game, they just want to sell a box every year.

You could probably also project the effects of this onto someone picking up a game late in it's lifespan, and trying to get DLC. It really comes across that EA don't care in giving a better service than pirates, but tough luck unless you're on PC (or a hacked console), which when you're talking about someone willing to go get a new copy is disappointing it enters the conversation.

I predict most people won't care. This kind of arrogance comes with believing you have an untouchable product that is in high enough demand that people will want it no matter what kind of draconian madness you attach to it. (Diablo 3's always-on requirement, for example).

I think it boils down to demand. If people organized and refused to buy products from companies who conduct business this way, changes would be made to appease them. But I don't think enough people care.

Personally I'm more concerned about EA banning the entirety of an account for an off-colour remark on battlelog or their forums. As much as I want them to improve, time and again EA just seem to put the minimum effort in to extract cash for something, and then provide ineffective support. I'm no longer surprised when a company does something like this, but always disappointed.

I'd like to think they're making a reputation for themselves, and people wouldn't buy from them in future while that reputation holds, but as you say, as soon as the next shiny thing comes out it's all forgotten.

Scratched wrote:

Personally I'm more concerned about EA banning the entirety of an account for an off-colour remark on battlelog or their forums.

I agree. This is just one more thing down the road of being a douchebag.

I'd like to think they're making a reputation for themselves, and people wouldn't buy from them in future while that reputation holds, but as you say, as soon as the next shiny thing comes out it's all forgotten.

Whilst i don't buy from some people (at the moment it's Ubisoft - and generally Activision games too) you end up hurting the developers involved and the publisher won't care because they'll just pin the blame on piracy and petition governments to enact even stricter/draconian laws on the general populace.

I expect that by 2020 we'll have a law that forces us to buy a certain amount ($/£/€/whatever) of content per year...

Actually, I suppose the thing that annoys me more is the issue of 'gamer attention' (for want of a better phrase).

Just to make up an example, company A is the only place you can get game B from, it's the only game exactly like B, but there's plenty of other similar games that are made by other companies. The annoying thing is that because company A are already big, they can command the 'gamer attention' with advertising, as there's a fairly good relationship between advertising spend and income from that game. Meanwhile the internet, and the ability to spread information about these other games only improves, but they consistently die off soon after release.

It's kind of a side issue though, not directly "EA's problem".

Mass Effect 3 requires an Origin install for DD or retail copies. Like BF3, it will be sold on Origin and other DD services, yet not Steam. Surprising no one that's paying attention.

Below are answers to the most commonly asked questions about Origin and Mass Effect 3. Thank you for your patience as we have worked to answer them.

1) Will Origin be a requirement to play all versions of Mass Effect 3? (Digital and/or from a retail brick and mortar store)
Yes, Origin is required for all PC editions of Mass Effect 3, physical or digital.

2) Is constant Origin connection required or is it a single one off authentication when the game is first installed. Is there also a limit to the number of installations available?
Mass Effect 3 will require a one time, single authorization for the single player game. There is no limit to the number of installs. Playing Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer will require a constant connection.

3) Is Origin required for the retail versions of the game?
Origin is required for the PC versions of Mass Effect 3, both physical and digital.

4) Will ME3 be available on Steam?
During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.

5) Is there an opt in or opt out clause for data collection?
Users will be allowed to opt-out of Mass Effect 3 data collection from inside the game.

6) I’ve seen reports that Origin is spyware. Is this true?
Origin is not spyware, and does not use or install spyware on user’s machines. In order to allow Origin to install games and their patches for everyone to use, Origin implements a permission change that results in Windows, not Origin, reviewing the filenames in the ProgramData/Origin folder. This is an ordinary Windows function, not an information-gathering process.

Looks like Origin just signed 11 additional publishers.

The eleven joining forces with Origin are The Witcher 2 maker CD Projekt RED, sim and strategy specialist 1C Company, niche publisher Paradox Interactive, To The Moon dev Freebird Games, InXile Entertainment, N3V Games, Core Learning, Trion Worlds, Robot Entertainment, Autumn Games, and Recoil Games.

Erm. Huh. "Joining forces" or "signed" sounds to me like "exclusive partners, whose games will only be available here." But that's not what the story is. It's just "games will be available here", which is kind of non-news. "Software store acquires games to sell."

"Software store can't get any games to sell" would be rather more newsworthy.

If they're signing Paradox it'll be interesting to see if Magicka turns up. That uses Steamworks extensively for matchmaking, although they could certainly swap it out for something else if needed I guess. Not sure about the rest of their titles.

They already sell Saints row 3 which is steamworks. They just want to collect their slice.

Hypatian wrote:

Erm. Huh. "Joining forces" or "signed" sounds to me like "exclusive partners, whose games will only be available here." But that's not what the story is. It's just "games will be available here", which is kind of non-news. "Software store acquires games to sell."

"Software store can't get any games to sell" would be rather more newsworthy.

That's the Shacknews story, so it's their copy. I didn't read the press release, because to be honest, the Shacknews linking setup is often hard for me to find the source and I didn't spend a lot of time looking for it.

Oh hey. I hadn't even thought to pull up the press release. Actually, it looks like both the press release and the ea.com blog post use pretty neutral terms.

It's encouraging that EA is actively trying to solicit other companies to use their Digital Service.. hopefully that means more resources for development and improving the service..

TheGameguru wrote:

It's encouraging that EA is actively trying to solicit other companies to use their Digital Service.. hopefully that means more resources for development and improving the glorified storefront into a service.

FTFY